Coastal Foyer

I remember when we first viewed our now home back in late December 1999.  We were our realtor’s last viewing of the year, so it was truly a memorable date for us.  By this time, we had already viewed about a dozen homes and we just could not agree on our forever home.  I was looking for an older home with lots of character, but I wanted the home to be renovated or relatively updated.  From what I remember, Richard, my partner, also wanted an older home, but the condition of the inside was less important than the potential for designated spaces.  In his earlier years, he was in construction, so he could upgrade any space with just minimal effort and it was fun for him.  He wanted the typical man spaces, such as, a workshop and a man cave.  I wanted a big main bathroom with chrome fixtures and a claw foot bathtub as well as a nice sized kitchen.  We both wanted a large wrap around porch and I’m happy that we both agreed on that.  While our home does not have a large wrap around porch, it still does have a large front porch and a good size back porch as you can see in my earlier post.

When we viewed the home, it was completely empty which made the house seem bigger.  The 9’-6” high main floor ceilings seemed like twelve feet high ceilings and the rooms felt wide.  The first space we walked into was the foyer and I remember thinking how open it felt and I loved that feeling.  I’ve always lived in a home where the entry way was tiny and when a whole family is walking through the front door, it feels congested especially in the winter when everyone is wearing boots and trying to fit on one tiny entry mat at the front door so as not to make the surrounding floors wet and messy.

There was a beautiful wood staircase with lots of gorgeous detailing coming down into the foyer.  The newel post was really pretty too.  I remember that, but it was covered with layers of paint that I hoped one day we would strip.  Years after we purchased the house, I did start stripping it, little by little, but life happened and I never did finish it.

There was a small 2 piece powder room just off the foyer that had original fixtures.  The wall hung porcelain sink had separate hot and cold faucets.  Over time, it constantly dripped and was a good place for our cats to source water while we were out of the house.  The door had an original locking mechanism which required a skeleton key to open from the outside of which we did not have the key for.  Our toddler locked himself in there once and that was a nightmare.

Shortly after we moved in, we stripped the blue floral wallpaper carefully so as to not disrupt the lathe and plaster walls.  We painted the walls Benjamin Moore Bennington Gray HC-82.  It was a nice neutral colour that we could both appreciate which was not an easy thing since we had completely different tastes in décor.

Fast forward to 2014, I decided to have the entire main floor painted white.  I am in the architectural field, so I had access to an interior designer.  I asked her to come see my space and help me choose a white.  I trusted her one hundred percent.  Since she favoured, at the time, Dulux paints, she chose Dulux Fencepost and although to me, it didn’t read “white”, she explained to me that layering complimentary warm whites reads better than painting a cool white throughout.  Although times have changed, I am still enjoying the colour Fencepost on my walls.

My foyer has always been my achilles heal when it comes to decor. I never really enjoyed it as a space. Years went by and finally, I decided to give my foyer a face lift.  I kept the wall paint colour, but I did paint the two doors in the foyer Benjamin Moore Water’s Edge.  I love this colour.  It’s a calming coastal blue that is easy to look at.  Remember my reference to Nights of Rodanthe?  My foyer reminds me of this “image” now.

So at last, here are a few images of my foyer.  I sourced a second-hand console for the style and size and then chalk painted it with Rustoleum Linen White.  I replaced my old gray IKEA area rug with a new IKEA jute rug, the Hellested and it nicely tied in the calming colours throughout.

I am so happy with this space now.  It is truly an inviting space and I am forever thinking about where on this big blue and green planet I could possibly add a mirror.  I’d love your suggestions!

Thank you so much for reading my post today.  I hope you will take time to subscribe to my blog.  Please know that your subscription helps me tremendously.  Thank you again.

Shari xo